purcell



l. S. PURCELL.

SEPARABLE COT,

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 8, 19|6.

'1 ,323,201 Patented Nov. 25, 1919.

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I. S. PURC'ELL.

SEPARABLE COT.

, APPLICATION FILED DEC. 8, sub 1,323,201 Patented Nov. 25, 1919'.

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9m assr BY r W Armani-m.

"UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ISAAC s. PURCELL, or OAK PARK, rumors, ASSIGNOR T0 rrnnroimn ooMPnn'Y, on

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A. CORIOBATION OF ILLINOIS.

V S EPARAIBLE COT.

,full, cle r, and exact des ripti n f thev vention, such as will enable others skilled in t e. art to hic it appertains to ma and use the same. i V

-.My invention relates to .cots, one of its general objects bei g to pro ide a foldab or collapsible cot which may be stored in a quite small space and which may'quickly be expanded into an unusually strong and firm bed. Other objects are to provide an article vof this class having a spring tensioned bed-bottom and one which will easily and automatically tension this bed-bottom whencthe cot is being erected; to provide a foldable cot which may readily be Separated into four or more parts, each ofwhich parts following specification and from the accan easily be carriedby a. single boy scout or the like; to provide simple and effective means for bracing various parts of the frame of the cot andgfor preventing an accidental detaching of the,frame;. and to provide simple. means for maintaining the foldableside rail portions of the frame .rigid when the cot is erected, and to provide effective and cheaply constructed feet forv pre venting the legs. from penetrating-soft soil unduly; i

Still further objects will appear.. from the companying drawings, in which. Figure 1 is a plan view of the erected Fig. 2 isa side elevation of the same.

cot.

Fig. 3 is an enlargediplan view of the hinge portion of one of the side rails'of the cot.

F igs. 4 and5 are two fragmentaryelevations, taken at right angles to each other and showing the method of locking one end of the transverse brace'to one ofthe intermediate legs. r

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side-viewqofone of the intermediate legs and the parts adjacent'thereto. Q

Figs. 7 and8 are enlarged transversesec- -tions through a side rail, takenrespectively along the line 77 and 8?8 of Fig. 3.

they end rails.

Fig. "13 1s a fragmentaryperspective view showi g hOW the braces fold against the specification of Letters Patent. Patentedfiov, 25 19151 Application filedDecemher 8.14.916. -sa-a1 .'135,789. i I y it I Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the lower end of one of the intermediate legs.

F ig.j10 is a similar view showing the foot 7 of one of theend legs. 7

. Figs. 1 1 and 12 are perspective Views show ng two types of tlpconstructions for cro ar.

Fig. 14 is an enlarged perspective view of thetlp of one of the end legsofthe cot.

Whlle my lnvention may be applied withsubstantially equal facility and advantages 7 .to cots having various types of flexible bedloottoms and having frame portions [of widely difl'ering materials, it is particularly adapted for use with frames composed largely of channel steeland with bed-bottoms including spring tensioned fabrics. Hence it is shown msuch an embodiment in the accompanying drawings, though Iwish it understoodthat theconstruction and arrangement might bevaried in many ways without departing from the spirit of my invention. In the drawings the cotrframe consists primarily of a pair ofsidefrails,

each foldably hinged at onesideof its middle and each having three legs pivoted to 1t, together with a pair of end rails l equipped for slidably engagingthe tips of the respective $16.6 rails and having a metal bed-bottom spring 2 stretched between these end rails; 'also, a detachable stiffener 3 spacing the intermediate legs ,4 and connected to the nearer end legs 5 by braces 6. Each side rail is desirably made of two angle steel parts facing 'in 'opposite; directions,

such as a long portion 7 having aflat side uppermost, and a shorter portion 8 having a horizontal'web of the angle at its lower edge. The rail portions 7 and 8 are preferably pivotedupon apin 9 located at some.

distance from the end of thelonger bar 7 butclose to the end of the shorter section 8, and the former preferably carries at itsex treme end a vertical flange 10 cooperating with the adjacent vertical web of the rail;

section 7 to afi'ord a socket for slidably receiving. a .partof thevertical web of the rail -section 8, as indicated in Fig. 3. This socket serves to prevent a relative lateral motion of the rail sections; and when the two sections are thus interlocked, they are prevented from moving about their. pivotal connection 9 by a latch 11 pivoted to the section 7, and adapted to be swung over the adjacent part ofthe section 8 as shown in Figs. 3 and 6.

Instead of permanently securing either one of the end rails to the side rails, I

preferably equip both end rails with tips arranged for slidably interlocking withthe ends of the side rails. For example, the end rail may consist of an-angle steel bar having a wood stiflener bolted within its angle as shown in Fig. '12, and one web of the angle the extent of the sliding being limited by a suitable stop carried by the siderail, such as a pin 12. Both the socket and the stop construction may be varied considerably, as shown for example in Fig. 11, where the extended web of the angle steel is turned over until its tip buts against, a portion of the other web and where the stop 12 is formed by alug punched from the web of the side rail. In either case, it will be obvious that the stop limits the extent to which the tip of the side rail enters the socket formation on the end rail. Hence, the bed-bottom may easily be placed in position by sliding one of the end rails into engagement with the tips of the side rails (as shown at the right hand end of Fig. 2) and then slipping the other end rail into operative position while the side rail sections 8 are tilted as shown in dotted lines, after which the depressing of the sections 8 to their normal horizontal positions tensions the bedbottom and draws the left-hand end rail firmly into position. a

To prevent an accidentalfolding or tipping of the legs, I preferably latch each leg by means of a brace 14 pivoted to one of the side rails and engaging a suitably cooperating formation on the leg, as for example, by means of the hook and pin formations shown in the: drawings. I also preferably prevent an accidental detaching of each hook by using a spring latch, which latch is desirably also used for latching the hook ends of the spreader 3. This spring latch is desirably composed of a single piece of wire 15 having portions extending through two per forations in the leg on which it is mounted and having the latching portion of the wire adapted to be pressed close to the leg by pressing the same toward the leg and causing the free tip to project through one of theseperforations, as shown in Figs. & and .5. To prevent the tips of the legs from undulyentering any soil, I preferably provide each leg with a foot formation affording a much greater area than the cross-section of the angle steel of which the leg is made. In

stiffener, so that when in use they will in Fig. 9. On each end leg 18, the foot formation is desirably afforded by splitting the tip of the leg along the angle and then turning the loosened portion of each web transversely and outwardly shown in Fig. 10, thereby permitting each leg 18 to be folded over the exterior of the angle of the rail section 7 and parallel to the'latter.-

The braces oare preferably pivoted to the stiffener 3 at pivot points spaced both from each other and from the ends of this diverge angularly as shown in Fig. 1; and these braces are preferably arranged so as to lie respectively above and below the horizontal Web of the stiffener 8,-thereby permitting these cot portions to be folded into a compact form as partially indicated in F igJli. Each of these braces is desirably made of a fiat bar of steel having one end twisted at right angles to the general plane of the bar and equipped with a hook formation adapted to engage a suitably located pin or lug on one of the end legs 18, the movement of the hook end being permitted by the resiliency of the brace.

' It will be evident from the above description and from the drawings that the cot of my invention can be' easily and quickly erected or knockeddown without the use of any tools, and that when erected it will be unusually firm. Moreover, when dismounted, it readily separates into four portions, each of which may easily be carried by manor boy, and which portions may be stored either separately or jointly in a comparatively small space, viz.: two side members, each consisting of a pair of pivotally joined rail sections and of three legs andtwobraces pivoted to these sections; one bed-bot tom section consisting of the bed-bottom, fabric (here shown as of wire) and of the 11 end rails; andonespreader with two braces pivoted to the same. To facilitate a compact joint storing or shipping, the longer sid'e rail sections are preferably of no greater length than the end rails, but I do not wish 120 to be limited to these proportions or other particulars of the embodiment herein disclosed,nor to its comprising all of the described features. 7 x

I claim as my invention:

1. In a cot having end legs and a pair of intermediary legs, a spreader spacing the latter, and braces having one end connected to the spreader and their other end connected directly to the end legs respectively. 130

2. In a cot having end legs and a pair of intermediary legs, a spreader spacing the latter, and braces pivoted to the spreader and connected directly to the end legs respectively.

3. In a cot having end legs and a pair of intermediarylegs, a spreader detachably interlocked with the latter, and two braces pivoted to the spreader at a distance from each other and from the intermediary legs, said braces being detachablv interlocked respectively with two of the end legs.

4:. In a cot, the combination of a side rail, an end rail of angle steel having one web 5. In a cot, the combination of a side rail,

an end rail of angle steel having one web extended beyond the end of the other web, the extending web portion being formed into a socket for receiving an end of the side rail, and a stop on the side rail for limiting the entrance of the latter into said socket.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, December 5th,

ISAAC S. PUROELL. 

